Then we were soldiers

Rebels in Libya | They are fathers, brothers, sons. Engineers, teachers, bankers, students. But most had never picked up a gun before.

Revolution had given way to a messy, bloody conflict, and these men—young and old—were now flighting the armed forces loyal to the man who had ruled them for the past 42 years. These engineers, teachers, bankers and students became revolutionaries — "the rebels" in the international press. But they were still ordinary men.